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My very first DIY hammock

So following the directions given on Just Jeff's site I just finished my very first DIY hammock. I gotta admit to feeling a little misty here. I mean it's nothing difficult, but that first one sure is nice to get out of the way.

So I found some Crimson Red ripstop and decided to give it a go! The stitches are FAAAAAAR from straight, but I'm pretty confident in their strength.

I decided to use the "W-whipping" method since I do like a bend in my knees when I sleep. I didn't like the way it felt. The center of the hammock had a very pronounced ridge and it was not comfortable. I decided to use a hybrid of W-whipping on the foot end and standard whipping on the head end. It works great. I get the benefit of the W "bump" and the flat lay of the standard whipping.

Here's a pic of the pockets the W makes:

Here's foot end when I'm lying on the diagonal:

I'm very excited! I've been out hanging in it for about an hour and had to come in just to tell someone. So consider yourselves told.

(In my best best Deliverance voice) That shore is a purty hammock you got thar. Seriously, Cannibal, looks like a job well done. I was thinking the same thing as FF, you must be an Alabama fan. Correct me if we're wrong. Personally, I'd have gone for Carolina Blue.

Last edited by Hooch; 07-17-2007 at 04:45.

"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl

FF, Hooch; who ISN'T a Bama Football Fan? Actually, I'm a WAC & Big 12 (Big 8 when I was there) alum. But, there is always a little bama fan in any football fan/player.

The color had nothing to do with my allegiances, I just wanted some color. My ENO is black, my HH is brown, my Warbonnet is green, and my Traveler is grey. The one I sleep in is very festive, but I wanted a colored hammock that I can leave in the yard for those perfect days when nonhangers are sitting inside watching TV.

I tried using wireties (or zipstrips if you prefer) for the whipping and they seem to be holding really good. I was in the hammock for about 6 hours last night being all rough on it to see what would break. Nothing All the posts I've read about planning improvements on your next homemade are right on. I'm going to re-whip again tonight to see what I can do about getting the floppyness out of the long sides. I pulled them a little longer when I whipped them, but I think they still need some tuggin.

Thanks for the positive comments. I was scared to post my first DIY, but I was too excited and had to tell!

FF, Hooch; who ISN'T a Bama Football Fan? Actually, I'm a WAC & Big 12 (Big 8 when I was there) alum. But, there is always a little bama fan in any football fan/player.

The color had nothing to do with my allegiances, I just wanted some color. My ENO is black, my HH is brown, my Warbonnet is green, and my Traveler is grey. The one I sleep in is very festive, but I wanted a colored hammock that I can leave in the yard for those perfect days when nonhangers are sitting inside watching TV.

I tried using wireties (or zipstrips if you prefer) for the whipping and they seem to be holding really good. I was in the hammock for about 6 hours last night being all rough on it to see what would break. Nothing All the posts I've read about planning improvements on your next homemade are right on. I'm going to re-whip again tonight to see what I can do about getting the floppyness out of the long sides. I pulled them a little longer when I whipped them, but I think they still need some tuggin.

Thanks for the positive comments. I was scared to post my first DIY, but I was too excited and had to tell!

I'm glad your first DIY hammock is something to be proud of Cannibal. How long did you make it? How long did you pull out the sides to have floppy issues with them? How long did it take you to make? I'm trying to work on my first DIY, but my sewing machine isn't cooperating at all. I'm going to have to take it in and have it serviced, I think. HC tried making some adjustments with it when he gave me my first sewing lesson a few weeks back and I tried to make some as well without success. I'm hoping it won't cost me too much, but then again, it has to be cheaper than buying a new machine.

"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl

I made it around 10' between the whipping. My initial piece of fabric was 128" X 60", minus hems and whipping. I just eyeballed the long sides when I pulled them out from the whipping and tried to make it look like the pics on Just Jeff's site. How long; well that's another story.

The first hem I tried to run was just plain ugly. Lots of folds in the fabric and the stitching was just yucky. So I put it away and ignored it for a couple of weeks. I decided my problem was the long hems and my distinct lack of patience so I started doing some smaller projects like stuff sacks and the like until I got comfortable with the sewing machine. Then I ripped out my earlier hem and started over. What a difference! It took me about 30 minutes to run a hem down all 4 sides and about 3 minutes to do the whipping.

I can't say enough about doing the small projects first; makes all the difference.

I can't say enough about doing the small projects first; makes all the difference.

That's what HE and about everyone else I've talked to says about it. Start small with things like stuff sacks and then go to a basic Speer-style hammock. As soon as I can get this whole sewing machine thing ironed out, I'm going to do just that. I'll make a few stuff sacks and then try for a Speer and a modified BB sack to stuff it in. Did you use double hems or a single hem on the hammock? Is a double hem even necessary? I thought about doing that just for peace of mind, if nothing else.

"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl

Yeah, I'll bet you still try to do a hammock first. I couldn't help myself! But, after fighting that first hem you'll put it aside in disgust and start making tyvex stuff sacks. Actually, that tyvex project helped tremendously. It seems to be somewhere between the ripstop and normal fabric as far as the slippery factor goes.

If I can just master the sil I think I'll be ready to roll out some homemade gear! It's sad that HE isn't here to say "I told you so". He told me at TrailDays that I'd be part of the DIY club sooner than I thought. I told him he was crazy, why would anybody want to make what they can go buy. I sure was wrong there!